Hard Drive Partition Help.

[gonzo90017]

I installed a new Maxtor 80 GB hard drive in a Master Slave Configuration. The 80gb being the slave. When I installed the software for it asked me how many partitions I wanted to make and since I had no idea I just left it at 1. I have used about 13 GB of it. So my question is once installed can I create more partitions? And if so will I lose all of my current files? And once you have the partitions if you have a different OS on each one when starting the computer which system will it boot up?

[parsonsj]

In General you will lose data. However if you use a program like Partition Magic you can resize and create new ones without losing data. What other OS's are you looking at? Linux loads a boot loader that lets you select which OS to load and I think there are third part programs that do it say with win98 and winxp.

[GeoPappas]

So my question is once installed can I create more partitions? And if so will I lose all of my current files?

This depends on the software that you use to create partitions. As suggested above, PowerQuest PartitionMagic will allow you to create new partitions without losing files. I believe that VCOM Partition Commander does the same.

[bugster]

You can Dual boot windows 98 with 2k or XP. Just install 98 1st, the install 2k or XP to a different directory (different partition needed only if you want to use NTFS for 2K/XP) and it will ask you which you want each time you boot.